infidel

[ in-fi-dl, -del ]
See synonyms for infidel on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Religion.Often Disparaging and Offensive. a person who does not accept a particular faith, especially Christianity or Islam.

  2. a person who has no religious faith; unbeliever.

  1. (loosely) a person who disbelieves or doubts a particular theory, belief, creed, etc.; skeptic: When it came to ghosts, he was a self-confessed infidel.

adjective
  1. Often Disparaging and Offensive. not accepting a particular faith, especially Christianity or Islam.

  2. without religious faith.

  1. Also in·fi·del·ic [in-fi-del-ik]. /ˌɪn fɪˈdɛl ɪk/. of, relating to, or characteristic of unbelievers.

  2. relating to or showing unbelief: Our infidel ideas about artificial intelligence make us pariahs in the academic community.

Origin of infidel

1
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Late Latin infidēlis “unbelieving,” Latin: “unfaithful, treacherous”; see in-3, feal

synonym study For infidel

1-3. See agnostic.

Words Nearby infidel

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use infidel in a sentence

  • Huxley quotes with satirical gusto Dr. Wace's declaration as to the word "infidel."

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
  • But a little earlier still, to be an infidel was to be an outlaw, subject to the penalty of death.

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
  • Those who hold the truth cannot enter into it with the infidel, the unbeliever, the erroneous or profane.

  • In London some years before, she had been the pupil of a learned minister, who had become an infidel, and also unscrupulous.

    The Homesteader | Oscar Micheaux
  • Let us suppose that any one denying the theory of Laplace or the theory of Copernicus would be reviled as an "infidel."

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford

British Dictionary definitions for infidel

infidel

/ (ˈɪnfɪdəl) /


noun
  1. a person who has no religious belief; unbeliever

adjective
  1. rejecting a specific religion, esp Christianity or Islam

  2. of, characteristic of, or relating to unbelievers or unbelief

Origin of infidel

1
C15: from Medieval Latin infidēlis, from Latin (adj): unfaithful, from in- 1 + fidēlis faithful; see feal

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012